CWD MANAGEMENT AREA TO BE ANNOUNCED

Captive-raised CWD-positive deer to result in new requirements for those who live and hunt nearby.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has scheduled a press conference to announce the new Disease Management Area that will be established in response to chronic wasting disease being detected at a Lancaster County deer farm.

The press conference is scheduled to be held Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. at the Game Commission’s headquarters, 2001 Elmerton Ave., Harrisburg.

The Game Commission plans to livestream the press conference on its YouTube channel, where it also will remain posted to view at later times.

Following the press conference, Executive Director Bryan Burhans also will be participating in a Facebook Live video to discuss chronic wasting disease (CWD).

CWD, which is always fatal to deer, elk and other cervids, first was detected in Pennsylvania in 2012 at a captive deer farm in Adams County. It has been detected among free-ranging deer in two areas of the state.

In areas where CWD is detected in captive-raised or free-ranging deer, the Game Commission establishes Disease Management Areas (DMAs), within which special rules apply regarding the hunting, feeding and transport of deer.

Hunters within DMAs are prohibited from using urine-based deer attractants, or possessing them while afield. Deer harvested within a DMA may not be transported whole outside the DMA. Their high-risk parts – including the head and backbone – must be removed and disposed of before meat, antlers and other low-risk parts are transported from the DMA. The feeding of deer is prohibited within DMAs, as is the transport of live cervids.

The Lancaster County CWD-positive deer will result in DMA 4, the boundary of which is being finalized.